Combatant

Origin

This fish is originating in the South-East Asia (Thailand, Kampuchea, Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia). He lives in the Rizière S, the small ponds and the puddle pools of water. He appreciates warm water, slow and not very deep. The wild form has short fins and is of brownish color. Certain races and varieties are regarded as domestic.

It is the national symbol of the Thailand where it has been high for more than 6 centuries.

Food

The combatants accept various types of food:

the alive, frozen Artémia S, freeze-dried or out of pie.
of food in flakes if they accept it.
of alive food such as the mosquitos or the alive worms of vase (without exaggerating some because that can cause problems of digestion to them).

Description

Its adult size is of approximately 6,5cm (it can reach up to 12 cm), it has a pleasant behavior (in general). The Betta splendens is also called Combattant of Siam or simply Combattant. This because if one puts 2 males in the same vat they will engage in a combat which can last 2 to 3 a.m. The death of one of both or the two fish which sometimes can follow themselves some must generally with infected wounds. The Combatant is very appreciated in his country of origin, where engagements are organized same manner as cockfights.

Beauty contests are organized all over the world and in particular in France, via the LASH and the IBSC.

Reproduction

It should first of all be made sure that the male and the female are rather mature and in good health to resist the intense stress of the reproduction. Then, one places the male and the female in the same aquarium separated by a transparent pane. One needs a vat of 20 L, with 15 cm height to the maximum.

The male will build its nest of bubbles (to facilitate the construction of the nest one can put floating plants like the Ceratopteris cortuna , the Ceratophyllum demersum or the roots of peat bogs). One recognizes the female lends to lay because its bands on the sides become vertical and the white genital papilla is quite visible, and it puts the head downwards: it is then time to release the female. Then, a few hours, (even a few days) after they will be coupled and the male will put eggs in the nest: the laying can last three or four hours.

The female should then be withdrawn because the male only deals with its offspring and thus does not support the presence of his/her partner. The eggs hatch at the end of 30 H of incubation; the new born ones to the first 4 days after their blossoming will reabsorb their vitelline blister during the 3. It is at this stage that the male should be withdrawn.

Nourish alevins of Nauplies of artémia S. Attention: it is at the end of the three weeks after the blossoming that the labyrinth of the young combatants is formed, they are thus very sensitive to the quality of the air right to the top of the layer of water, it must absolutely be hot and wet. It is thus strongly disadvised opening the lid of the aquarium during some time.

Maintenance out of aquarium

The male Betta splendens should never be maintained in an aquarium with another male because at this time there would be inevitably a violent one fights who would result in the death of the one of them; it is also the case for any fish having a morphology similar to the Combatant or even of the colors chatoyantes because he would be regarded as a rival. A male for 3 females is the minimum to be respected. However brawls are to be feared if the aquarium is not planted enough, the ideal is to maintain each separate Betta splendens male, all alone in its aquarium. The females can generally be maintained in group, despite everything certain females can appear very aggressive.

The Betta splendens belongs to the family of the Labyrinthidés (currently Osphronemidae), i.e. it has a labyrinth which enables him to come to breathe the air on the surface. One thus needs always several centimetres of air for water surface there so that it can come to breathe. Lastly, the vat must have less possible current of water, under penalty of doing nothing but see this small jewel which hates the current (and it is included/understood, considering the size of its fins).

External bonds

References

Others

Wiki dedicated to the betta splendens
SiamProject: Site of stockbreeders of bettas
http://plakatthai.com: Site on Bettas raised for the combat
Betta.fr: Directory of sites of Betta

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